Russian Intelligence had to persuade Assad to leave Syria in last moment drama: As rebels advanced, Putin agents convinced despot he had no chance of winning
Russian Intelligence had to persuade Bashar al-Assad to leave Syria in a last moment drama as rebels advanced on Damascus last weekend.
Unable to help the Assad regime keep back the mounting rebel incursion, Russia advised their ally that he would lose the fight against the groups under HTS.
He was offered safe passage to Moscow with his family if he left immediately, Bloomberg reports.
It is understood Putin personally approved Assad's rescue but has no intention of meeting him now that he is in exile.
Three sources told Bloomberg News that Moscow organised Assad's escape via its air base on the Syrian coast, using a 'transponder trick'.
He was reportedly ordered to tell no-one, switch his transponder off and get on his private plane in the capital Damascus.
The aircraft then travelled to Russia’s Khmeimim air base on the Syrian coast, before Assad headed to Moscow, possibly on a military plane, the sources have claimed.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed a plane believed to be carrying Assad as he left the Syrian capital Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The plane headed towards the Mediterranean Sea, before making a U-turn and disappearing from the map.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia
An An-124 heavy transport aircraft with its nose cone lifted, at Russian Khmeimim airbase, near Latakia, Syria
Assad with his British-born wife Asma and their children in 2022. Following the humiliating capitulation of his dictatorship over the weekend, Assad will now start a new life in Russia
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, claimed that Assad was transported out of Syria 'in the most secure way possible' over the weekend.
Speaking to NBC News, Mr Ryabkov said: 'He [Assad] is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation.'
And when asked if Moscow would hand Assad over the International Criminal Court, he implied they would not, saying Russia 'is not party to the convention' that established it.
Vladimir Putin was Assad's key ally during Syria's long civil war with the Kremlin helping him maintain his family's brutal dynasty which had governed Syria for over 50 years.
Putin has also built up a massive military presence in Syria with an air base in Latakia and a naval facility in Tartus - which is Russia's only Mediterranean naval hub - and an estimated 7,000 military personal on the ground as recently as this summer.
Mr Ryabkov said that he had 'no idea what going on with him [Assad] right now' adding that it 'would be very wrong for me to elaborate on what happened and how it was resolved'.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, told the international press this morning that Russia was in contact with the rebels over its military bases.
He said: 'We, of course, maintain contacts with those who are currently controlling the situation in Syria,' Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
Flightradar24 showed a plane heading from the Syrian capital Damascus towards the Mediterranean Sea in the early hours of Sunday morning
The plane then makes a U-turn before vanishing off the map
Sergei Ryabkov (pictured), Russia's deputy foreign minister, claimed that Assad was transported to Moscow 'in the safest way possible'
Putin embraces Assad during a meeting in 2017. Russia has built up a massive military presence in Syria with an air base in Latakia and a naval facility in Tartus - which is Russia's only Mediterranean naval hub
Assad's extended family reportedly purchased at least 18 luxury apartments in the City of Capitals complex (pictured), located in Moscow's glittering skyscraper district
The Assad family's secret escape tunnels have been revealed. Syrian rebels were left stunned by the huge luxury underground network
'This is necessary because our bases are located there, our diplomatic mission is located there and, of course, the issue related to ensuring the security of these facilities is extremely important and of primary significance.'
Following the humiliating capitulation of his dictatorship over the weekend, Assad and his family will now start a new life in Russia.
They are likely to draw on their family connections and extensive assets in Moscow in the hope of keeping up their comfortable lifestyle in exile.
The Syrian dictator's extended family bought up at least 20 Moscow apartments worth more than £30 million in recent years, illustrating Russia's status as a safe haven for the clan.
This included the purchase of at least 18 luxury apartments in the City of Capitals complex, located in Moscow's glittering skyscraper district.
The two-towered skyscraper - which until the unveiling of London's Shard in 2012 was Europe's tallest building - is home to some of Russia's wealthiest businessmen, government ministries, five-star hotels and multinational companies.
Back at Assad's former residence in Damascus, secret tunnels beneath an Assad family mansion were uncovered after rebels seized the capital Damascus on Sunday, with the escape network serving as an escape route for the dictator and his allies.
A satellite image shows an overview of Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria
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Russians begin to dismantle military outposts after fall of Assad
Russia has begun dismantling its military outposts in Syria amid uncertainty about its future in the region following Bashar al-Assad's abrupt fall last weekend.
Images captured by satellite observation companies Maxar and Planet Labs showed an increase in ground vehicles at the Khmeimim air base, where Russia was permanently storing air defence systems, warplanes, and other military equipment.
Imagery showed the apparent disassembly of the Russian air defences and the arrival of several large transport aircraft, believed to indicate forces gathering to depart in the wake of the rebel takeover of the country.
A Syrian security official stationed outside the base said that a Russian cargo plane had left this morning.
Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Financial Times: 'This drawdown may signal a complete Russian exit from Syria, but it is too early to tell.'
Russia was one of al-Assad's main backers throughout the Syrian Civil War, providing troops and vital air support from 2015 to push back advancing rebels and shore up support for the Ba'athist dictator.
A Russian soldier in a military convoy stands on a roadside because of an engine failure in one of the vehicles
A Russian military aircraft Antonov AH124-100 lands at Hmeimim air base in Syria's coastal Latakia, Syria, December 14
A Syrian man rides his bike as a Russian military convoy heads towards Hmeimim air base in Syria's coastal Latakia, Syria, December 14
A satellite image shows Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich offshore of Tartus, Syria, December 13
Russia hopes to retain control of the Tartus naval facility, which houses elements of its Black Sea Fleet.
It is also Russia's only repair and replenishment hub in the Mediterranean, and received significant investment and upgrades in 2012.
The hub allows Russian ships to stay in the Mediterranean without having to return to Black Sea ports via the Bosporus.
Passing the strait relies on Turkey's goodwill, and Russia has reportedly already asked Turkey for help in withdrawing its troops from Syria.
GUR, Ukraine's military intelligence service, claims that Russia has also been airlifting military personnel and equipment back home.
The sudden fall of the Syrian regime, coinciding with Hezbollah's ceasefire after more than a year of war with Israel, highlighted the inability or unwillingness of Russia and Iran to come to Assad's aid despite propping up the dictator in the past.
Russia is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and has fewer assets to spare to maintain its global interests.
People stand on a destroyed military tank on the outskirts of Hama on December 11
A Syrian rebel fighter shows captagon pills, a synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant, hidden in a fake fruit at a factory for manufacturing captagon pills
Captagon pills, placed inside an apple-shaped container
Assad's $5bn 'jihadi drug' empire: The pill makes terrorists feel impervious to bullets and survive without sleep
Bashir al-Assad's lucrative 'jihad drug' empire brought billions of pounds a year into the coffers of his Syrian regime
Captagon was both a lucrative export and a tool of warfare for Assad, with profits flowing directly into the pockets of his family and military
In 2021, the Syrian government was estimated to have made $5billion (£4 billion) from the sale of Captagon.
A codrug of amphetamine and theophylline, Captagon was originally sold as a treatment for ADHD, narcolepsy and depression when it was first developed by German pharmaceutical firm Degussa AG in 1961.
But junkies found the tablet was a cheap and quick way to get bursts of energy, alertness and sometimes a sense of euphoria.
Captagon is seen as the substance of choice for combatants, such as Islamic State terrorists, who value its ability to ward off tiredness and make them feel impervious to bullets.
Hamas terrorists consumed Captagon right before they carried out the October 7 massacre in Israel, in which they killed 1,200 people and kidnapped a total of 251.
Much of Syria's production and distribution of the drug was supervised by the Fourth Armoured Division - nicknamed the 'Captagon Division' - of the Syrian Arab Army.
Syria is the Captagon capital of the world, accounting for 80 per cent of the drug's global supply. The global market for the drug is worth approximately $57billion (£45 billion).
Jordan intercepted 65 million Captagon tablets in 2022 alone, many of which were concealed in everyday products such as fruit and machinery.
A 2020 seizure of 84 million Captagon tablets at the Italian port of Salerno was estimated to be worth €1 billion.
A customs officer displays Captagon pills, part of the 789 kilograms (1739 pounds) of confiscated drugs, before its incineration in Sofia, 12, 2007
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